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New York - With its New York office rapidly growing, the national litigation firm McKool Smith has announced its move into the landmark Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park.

Developing its New York practice is a cornerstone of McKool Smith's business plan, and after opening the office here in late 2007 with a single lawyer, the firm now has a New York headcount of 20 lawyers, says Mike McKool, the co-founder of the Dallas-based firm.

"We began in New York with an intellectual property practice that built on the firm's national IP and commercial litigation leadership," says McKool. "And we have grown steadily, adding commercial litigation, white collar and, most recently, bankruptcy to our practice capabilities in New York. This beautiful new space at One Bryant Park allows us to continue to move forward boldly and to grow the office to better meet our clients' needs."

A major attraction of the new space is the building's use of cutting-edge green technologies and materials, says McKool Smith principal Robert Cote, a prominent patent litigator, who leads the New York office. "As a leading law firm in the protection of innovators and inventors' patent rights, we are especially proud to make such a center of innovation our new home in New York," says Cote.

The design, which attained the US Green Building Council's LEED Platinum certification, the highest rating for environmentally responsible building development, features environmentally sound approaches such as floor-to-ceiling building glass to maximize natural light, an automatic daytime light-dimming system, an on-site five megawatt combined heat and power electrical plant and a "grey-water" system that collects and re-uses rainfall.

McKool Smith's dramatic growth has come as a welcome counter-point to the widespread national trend. This achievement was noted by Douglas Durst, Chairman of The Durst Organization, the developers of One Bryant Park.

"In welcoming McKool Smith as our newest tenant, we can't help but be impressed by the firm's success and upward momentum," says Durst. "It's great news for the city and its economic recovery that McKool Smith has selected this magnificent building as the platform to make its move into the front rank of law firms in New York."

One Bryant Park, is located at Avenue of the Americas and West 42nd Street. Reaching 54 stories and 1,200 feet at its spire, the crystalline tower is New York's second tallest skyscraper, as well as the city's most environmentally advanced major commercial office development. McKool Smith will occupy the 47th floor of this spectacular new addition to the Manhattan skyline.

McKool Smith is recognized as one of the premier trial law firms in the United States based on significant courtroom victories and substantial settlements for domestic and international clients. With more than 100 attorneys in Dallas, Austin, Marshall, New York, and Washington D.C., McKool Smith handles commercial, intellectual property and white collar litigation for companies and individuals, including major airlines, telecommunications companies, medical device manufacturers, oil & gas concerns, and many others. McKool Smith is recognized in The National Law Journal for winning more of the Top 100 Verdicts of 2008 than any other law firm in the country.